In the area of VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) communications, prior art arrangements between a caller using a first VoIP provider to a called party using a second VoIP provider at some point travel over the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when a caller dials the number of a called party on a different VoIP provider network, the call is first routed to the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server of the caller's VoIP provider. The call is then routed to the SIP server of the called party's VoIP provider via the PSTN. However, such communications may require additional usage fees (tolls) or other applicable costs, in some way defeating the purpose of using packet switched VoIP communications.